Search found 130 matches

by benelli
Thu Mar 14, 2019 6:55 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Crate Sizing
Replies: 7
Views: 8944

Re: Crate Sizing

My GSP is on the bigger side - about 65 lbs - and he seems plenty comfortable in an intermediate size RT kennel. We'd initially gotten an intermediate for travel and a large for at home, but we eventually sold the large and just kept the intermediate. It's cozy in there for him, but he sleeps curled...
by benelli
Fri Jul 08, 2016 11:38 am
Forum: Health and Nutrition
Topic: Enlarged prostate?
Replies: 14
Views: 8626

Re: Enlarged prostate?

No, he didn't do any physical check of the prostate.
by benelli
Fri Jul 08, 2016 8:34 am
Forum: Health and Nutrition
Topic: Enlarged prostate?
Replies: 14
Views: 8626

Enlarged prostate?

I took my 4-year-old intact GSP to the vet yesterday for his annual check-up/shots. The tech and vet were pushing to neuter him, which I fully expected; before the vet came in, the tech mentioned as one of the reasons the possibility of an enlarged prostate. He said one of the signs of that is the a...
by benelli
Wed May 04, 2016 12:11 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Invisible Fence
Replies: 7
Views: 6393

Invisible Fence

Does anybody have any experience with an invisible fence? Lately we've been having problems with our dog (4 year old intact GSP) getting out of the yard/house. We almost never had this problem before moving into this house about two months ago, but we spend a lot more time in the front yard now, and...
by benelli
Wed Aug 26, 2015 7:44 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Snake in the yard
Replies: 37
Views: 14055

Re: Snake in the yard

Yeah, as mask said I'm looking more for how to get rid of snakes, not how to vaccinate my dog against them. Honestly, I'm more worried about the kids than the dog; in theory I can tell them "Don't touch snakes," but with their ages ranging from 2-4, I'm not going to rely on their judgment and assume...
by benelli
Tue Aug 25, 2015 9:16 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Snake in the yard
Replies: 37
Views: 14055

Snake in the yard

Last night our GSP came across a snake in the backyard. It was coiled up, but looked to be 3-4 feet in length. We live in the Mojave desert, so my presumption is the snake is poisonous. The dog barked but stayed far away from the snake (we've had snake aversion training done on him, but that was two...
by benelli
Wed Apr 08, 2015 1:30 pm
Forum: Off Topic Forum
Topic: Dog kenneling in CA
Replies: 2
Views: 2639

Dog kenneling in CA

Is there anybody in the Monterey/Carmel or San Francisco areas who can recommend a place to board our dog? We're going on a family vacation up the coast, and most days we'll be camping so we'd like to bring our dog along with us, but I'm having trouble finding what I'm looking for ... he's a 3-year-...
by benelli
Wed Jan 14, 2015 10:40 am
Forum: Health and Nutrition
Topic: How much do you feed?
Replies: 37
Views: 22767

Re: How much do you feed?

Thanks for the input. We still have about 1.5 bags of Savor left, but I once that is used up we'll switch to Sport and see if that makes any difference. I'll also continue to look into deworming him.
by benelli
Tue Jan 13, 2015 12:43 pm
Forum: Health and Nutrition
Topic: How much do you feed?
Replies: 37
Views: 22767

Re: How much do you feed?

For reference (even though I don't know how to upload pictures), my GSP is a bit thinner than the two in those pictures. He looks healthy and happy, but you can definitely see most if not all of his ribs. I'll make a note to myself to look into dewormers while the kids are napping today; probably wo...
by benelli
Mon Jan 12, 2015 4:40 pm
Forum: Health and Nutrition
Topic: How much do you feed?
Replies: 37
Views: 22767

Re: How much do you feed?

Thanks for all the input. Yes, I realize there's a lot more that can factor in, I was just curious if he was waaaaay out there, and if so, by how much. I don't have any other high-activity dogs to compare him with. As far as his stool, it goes back and forth; often it's just fine, but occasionally h...
by benelli
Mon Jan 12, 2015 3:35 pm
Forum: Health and Nutrition
Topic: How much do you feed?
Replies: 37
Views: 22767

Re: How much do you feed?

We're feeding him Purina ProPlan Savor.

Not sure if it matters, but I forgot to mention that he is on the larger side for a GSP; not freakishly large, but on the larger end of the spectrum. Unfortunately I don't know his weight, though.
by benelli
Mon Jan 12, 2015 2:34 pm
Forum: Health and Nutrition
Topic: How much do you feed?
Replies: 37
Views: 22767

How much do you feed?

How many cups a day do you feed your dog? I have a male GSP who will be 3 in April. He looks healthy (shiny coat, etc.) but is definitely skinnier than any other dog I see around the neighborhood (granted, most family pets are overweight). He certainly doesn't look emaciated, but you can see his spi...
by benelli
Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:44 am
Forum: Training
Topic: Wild quail for my pup
Replies: 2
Views: 1471

Re: Wild quail for my pup

You're in Lancaster? Where are you finding coveys of quail? We live on Edwards, so about 45 minutes north of you and we've found a couple quail here and there, but nothing more than that, and that's really been holding up our training. Our dog is a little over two but sounds like at about the same p...
by benelli
Sun Sep 14, 2014 4:23 pm
Forum: Hunting
Topic: Hunting license question
Replies: 4
Views: 2930

Re: Hunting license question

Thanks for the replies! I did take the hunter training class, we're just thinking we can save $50-60 by only buying one license. I've actually done more shooting than my husband - I grew up in a gun-crazy family, he did not - I'm just more interested in focusing on the dog's performance, at least fo...
by benelli
Sun Sep 14, 2014 9:12 am
Forum: Hunting
Topic: Hunting license question
Replies: 4
Views: 2930

Hunting license question

My husband and I are going to take our dog out hunting for the first time and are looking into hunting licenses. I have no desire to handle/fire the shotgun, but I do want to be along to handle the dog and see how things go. Do we need to get a license for me also, or can my husband be the only lice...
by benelli
Thu Aug 28, 2014 9:55 pm
Forum: Hunting
Topic: Good areas in Southern California?
Replies: 6
Views: 4495

Re: Good areas in Southern California?

Red Mountain is up on 395, right? We're about an hour from there. We headed out that way once about a year ago (not to hunt, just to let the dog run and see what we could find), but we had no idea what we were doing and the dog took off and lost track of us, and we didn't see any birds. Not sure if ...
by benelli
Thu Aug 28, 2014 12:10 pm
Forum: Hunting
Topic: Good areas in Southern California?
Replies: 6
Views: 4495

Good areas in Southern California?

We want to make sure we actually take the dog out hunting this season, but even though we've gotten a decent handle on the training side of things, we have no idea where to look for quail. We've actually recently come across a few within walking distance of our house, which is great for the dog to s...
by benelli
Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:16 am
Forum: Training
Topic: Dog pooping in the house?
Replies: 20
Views: 9970

Re: Dog pooping in the house?

I don't have any amazing insights on this, but my first thoughts are: 1. I don't know if there are any medical conditions that can contribute to that sort of thing, but if you think that's a possibility, you might want to talk to your vet. 2. Don't give her an opportunity to poop in the house; if sh...
by benelli
Mon Aug 18, 2014 9:26 am
Forum: Training
Topic: Found wild quail ... now what?
Replies: 18
Views: 8737

Re: Found wild quail ... now what?

Thank you all for your responses! I've taken the dog out to that area a few times now, and although we haven't actually found any birds, I think the scent is there enough that he's remembering to hunt for birds rather than just run around crazy trying to scare them up. Working him into the wind defi...
by benelli
Sat Aug 09, 2014 10:10 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: Found wild quail ... now what?
Replies: 18
Views: 8737

Re: Found wild quail ... now what?

Thanks, DonF, you have a good memory - yes, we live in base housing. I was looking at pigeon traps this afternoon thinking we might be able to hide one in our yard and try to snag some that way - since we'd just be releasing them after catching them anyway, and I'm already breaking the leash law on ...
by benelli
Sat Aug 09, 2014 2:42 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: Found wild quail ... now what?
Replies: 18
Views: 8737

Found wild quail ... now what?

I have a 2 year old GSP who my husband and I started working with earlier on, dabbled with NAVHDA, and started with PS/PF but got stuck when we had a hard time finding pigeons to use. (We got through the step where the dog finds/points a bird in a launcher, you have the dog whoa, release the bird, a...
by benelli
Mon Jan 06, 2014 8:24 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: GSP gone cranky!
Replies: 22
Views: 9386

Re: GSP gone cranky!

We noticed our GSP (coming up on 2 years old) getting crabby at getting off his big fluffly bed in the living room to kennel up in the laundry room. He never growled or snapped or anything (good for him he didn't - I would have pounced him), but he definitely looked pissed when we'd get him up, and ...
by benelli
Fri Nov 01, 2013 10:26 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Wire crate
Replies: 12
Views: 5219

Re: Wire crate

Where in CA do you live? We got a Ruff Tuff kennel from the beginning with our puppy, and we made a divider out of plastic-y material that we could zip-tie into different positions, moving it farther back to increase the size of the kennel. It's sized for I think the "large" kennel, but I'm sure it ...
by benelli
Thu Oct 31, 2013 8:20 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Aggression towards a puppy
Replies: 15
Views: 6361

Re: Aggression towards a puppy

You did the right thing. With really hard headed dogs trying to set dominace you sometimes have to piss on them while you have them on there back to put them in there place. I dont think ur guy needs that yet. Hmm ... I may have to let my husband or two-year-old boy take on that task. It would be r...
by benelli
Wed Oct 30, 2013 11:19 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Aggression towards a puppy
Replies: 15
Views: 6361

Re: Aggression towards a puppy

When it's someone else's pup it's hard ,but here I let them work it out.It's not a puppy to an adult dog, it's a possible threat. Yeah, if it was my puppy I'd probably turn them out in a yard or something together and see what happened (with spare hands available in case things turned sour), but I ...
by benelli
Wed Oct 30, 2013 11:17 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Aggression towards a puppy
Replies: 15
Views: 6361

Re: Aggression towards a puppy

I put him on his back mostly because I feel like he should be punished for being aggressive, and it's something that Scout doesn't like (allegedly it's a dominance kind of thing), without me looking abusive. Those are the only two times I've done that to Scout ... in the situation it seems like some...
by benelli
Wed Oct 30, 2013 10:31 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Aggression towards a puppy
Replies: 15
Views: 6361

Aggression towards a puppy

My male GSP (1.5 years, not neutered) has been good with other dogs, no real problems with neighbor dogs or anything like that, except this one lab puppy. The first time he met the puppy, she was I think 10 weeks old (this was about a month ago). Scout (my dog) was not on a leash, she (the puppy) wa...
by benelli
Wed Oct 30, 2013 10:19 am
Forum: Health and Nutrition
Topic: Car sick
Replies: 7
Views: 3535

Re: Car sick

Our dog was really bad about car rides when he was younger. Miserable. Pooping, throwing up, foaming at the mouth, struggling to avoid getting in the car, etc. I think age helps some, but other things we did involved putting him in his kennel in the van for meals - the first couple of times he refus...
by benelli
Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:59 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: People who hate e collars..
Replies: 25
Views: 9809

Re: People who hate e collars..

I must be looking in the wrong places to find people who are so easily agitated ... everyone I've encountered (including my aunt, who I thought would be squeamish about the idea, but also everyone I know in my neighborhood) has not been bothered by the e-collar. I explain it to them simply, saying o...
by benelli
Mon Sep 30, 2013 10:56 am
Forum: Training
Topic: HELP! I think I've screwed up.
Replies: 23
Views: 8552

Re: HELP! I think I've screwed up.

There was a while where I made a similar mistake with the e-collar. The dog was whining/yipping in his kennel, and I was trying to use stimulation to get him to be quiet. I let myself get frustrated and kept turning the collar up to "get my point across." Terrible idea. Poor dog went around for abou...
by benelli
Sun Sep 08, 2013 2:17 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: E-collar technique
Replies: 16
Views: 5809

Re: E-collar technique

Thanks for all the replies! Very helpful. I know the dog does absolutely understand the commands, both with and without stimulation, so I think it's just a matter of treating all outings as "training," even if it's just a casual outing - when we go out "to train," I pay close attention to how I'm do...
by benelli
Sat Sep 07, 2013 11:08 am
Forum: Training
Topic: E-collar technique
Replies: 16
Views: 5809

Re: E-collar technique

We're not looking to compete, we just want a well-behaved dog that we can take out hunting on occasion (and he *is* well-behaved - far better-behaved than I ever thought a dog I owned would be, and every time we interact with other people they comment on how obedient he is (granted, that's compared ...
by benelli
Sat Sep 07, 2013 7:28 am
Forum: Training
Topic: E-collar technique
Replies: 16
Views: 5809

Re: E-collar technique

Okay ... but *if* your dog doesn't obey the first time ... hypothetically ... I already said the dog isn't perfectly trained. My dog is trained to a level I'm comfortable with; in the cost-benefit analysis of whether we should work more on basic obedience, we've decided not to stress it much and mor...
by benelli
Fri Sep 06, 2013 3:09 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: E-collar technique
Replies: 16
Views: 5809

Re: E-collar technique

kninebirddog - I was asking the question with the assumption the dog understood the command and was collar-conditioned to it (ours is collar-conditioned to here, heel, and whoa). But he's not perfect (or probably more accurately, he's exactly as good/bad as our training techniques have been), so he ...
by benelli
Fri Sep 06, 2013 2:02 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: E-collar technique
Replies: 16
Views: 5809

E-collar technique

Just curious about how other people use their e-collar/what the best way is. A few "options" I've thought of: 1) No stim for the first command given, but stim if the dog doesn't respond to the initial command. (And would you use a higher or lower stim?) 2) Lower stim for the first command, then bump...
by benelli
Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:19 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Questions after 5 months
Replies: 13
Views: 5529

Re: Questions after 5 months

Can you put a clip or lock or something on the gate? We have a two-year-old who will let himself and the dog out of the backyard, so I put a little clip on the outside of the gate that he can't work (yet) so I don't have to worry about them escaping. Also, you can try to get in the habit of putting ...
by benelli
Mon Sep 02, 2013 8:59 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: leather collar question
Replies: 7
Views: 2829

leather collar question

Might be a silly question, but I'll ask anyway. I like the looks of leather collars and, from the threads on here in the last couple of weeks, picked one I think I would like to buy, but I'm curious about how "gentle" you have to be with them. Right now we have one of the plastic-y sort of collar th...
by benelli
Mon Aug 12, 2013 4:15 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: 4 yr old GSP- defiant/aggressive behavior
Replies: 49
Views: 20492

Re: 4 yr old GSP- defiant/aggressive behavior

You mentioned in one post putting the e-collar on him and using that when he gets aggressive ... I'm not an expert, but I remember seeing on several other posts (usually about dog-to-dog aggression) that using e-collar stim can just escalate things because then the dog gets really mad. I don't have ...
by benelli
Mon Aug 12, 2013 7:41 am
Forum: Training
Topic: Perfect Finish question
Replies: 15
Views: 6265

Re: Perfect Finish question

Unfortunately trapping birds isn't an option ... we live on a military base, so everything from pigeons to greasy dumpster-diving ravens to mangy coyotes are protected.
by benelli
Sun Aug 11, 2013 10:08 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: Perfect Finish question
Replies: 15
Views: 6265

Perfect Finish question

We're hoping to get some bird work done with the dog this weekend; we're gradually working through Perfect Start/Perfect Finish, and this weekend if all goes well we should be able to start on the "whoa with birds" section. I was wondering, though, is there a way to "re-use" birds on that portion? I...
by benelli
Wed Aug 07, 2013 3:47 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Scared to Death
Replies: 17
Views: 6756

Re: Scared to Death

When we got our GSP a little over a year ago, the first time we went to my parents' house their older dog (actually the dog I got in high school ...) was terrified of the puppy. He's a VERY timid/subordinate dog by nature. At my parents' house dogs stay in a 20'x24' pen during the day (they run loos...
by benelli
Tue Jul 23, 2013 2:22 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Exercise
Replies: 7
Views: 3776

Re: Exercise

We play fetch with our GSP daily (he's a little over a year old) and I don't think he's getting tired of it ... he's obsessed. We have a Chuck-it thrower so we don't have to pick up slimy tennis balls. In the morning we take a walk around the neighborhood and he runs around chasing birds in a field ...
by benelli
Tue Jul 23, 2013 2:14 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: please recommend dog friendly National/State Parks
Replies: 14
Views: 4959

Re: please recommend dog friendly National/State Parks

Usually the national forest areas are more "dog friendly" than the parks - I don't know if forest areas are an option for you. We also enjoy having our dog along with us for camping trips - several years ago we went on a backpacking trip with our Boxer and it was tons of fun. He settled right in to ...
by benelli
Wed Jul 17, 2013 7:11 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: marking in a house
Replies: 20
Views: 7596

Re: marking in a house

So can you train a dog to stop marking entirely, and just squat to pee just when they need to pee? Or is that too much to ask? I would think that would be about as easy as getting all 3 "boys" in my house to always to keep the seats neat and tidy and in the down position. Males... :roll: Yeah, that...
by benelli
Tue Jul 16, 2013 2:22 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: marking in a house
Replies: 20
Views: 7596

Re: marking in a house

So can you train a dog to stop marking entirely, and just squat to pee just when they need to pee? Or is that too much to ask? The dog never marks when we have him walking at heel, but frequently on walks we let him wander a little (he has an e-collar and we keep him within ~15 yards), so then of co...
by benelli
Sat Jul 13, 2013 2:52 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: marking in a house
Replies: 20
Views: 7596

Re: marking in a house

I'd bet the dog is not being allowed out to do his business often enough or doesn't know how to alert the new person of his need. As a dog needs to be corrected within 30 seconds of a behaviour, punishing him later than that, is a bad idea. The first time he did it (the one time I observed him doin...
by benelli
Sat Jul 13, 2013 7:52 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: marking in a house
Replies: 20
Views: 7596

Re: marking in a house

Yeah, I told her to put him in a kennel if he was causing trouble in the house (she had a spare), but I think she didn't want to be too hard on him or something ... I really would have preferred she did something to discipline/prevent behavior like that - which is why I'm not planning on using her i...
by benelli
Fri Jul 12, 2013 5:34 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: marking in a house
Replies: 20
Views: 7596

Re: marking in a house

He's not unsupervised in the house often/ever ... I'm pretty dead sure he's never marked in our house. He generally follows us around the house or is passed out on his bed, or is in his kennel or in the backyard. Besides, with a 2-year-old and a 6-month-old, I'm not sure we'd be able to say for sure...
by benelli
Fri Jul 12, 2013 4:34 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: marking in a house
Replies: 20
Views: 7596

marking in a house

We recently kenneled Scout (1 yr) at a neighbor's house for a week while we were out of town. He has never marked in our house (hasn't peed in the house at all since he was a puppy), but he apparently kept going after two particular spots in the house. He did one while I was there dropping him off a...
by benelli
Mon May 27, 2013 7:24 pm
Forum: Health and Nutrition
Topic: raw paws
Replies: 6
Views: 2777

raw paws

We just got back from a weekend at my parents' cabin in the mountains. Scout (1 yr GSP) had a blast the first day charging all over the mountain ... and after about six hours of fun, he was a wreck. His paws are so sore; now that we're home and he isn't covered in dirt, I can see just how much of a ...